Topic Brainstorming

Try answering the brainstorming questions below. Fill out the boxes below and then e-mail this brainstorming information to yourself. Your instructor automatically gets your notes.

  1. If you have already identified a topic, situation (including audience), and document type, remind me of those, or that, here.
  2. If you have not thought about the topic, situation, report type, or audience of your technical document project, in the box below describe your ideas for topics:
  3. What's your major? What are some of the most interesting courses you've taken in that major, or will soon take? What are some of the most interesting aspects of your major?
  4. What are your career plans? What's going to be interesting or challenging about the work you see yourself doing? What topics for the technical-report project are there in your career plans?
  5. Are you working now? What's interesting or challenging about what you do now? What topics for the technical-report project are there in your current work?
  6. Think about problems—what local, regional, national, international problems do you know something about or have an interest in? What topics for the technical-report project can you think of relating to problems?
  7. Think about technology, especially new technologies. Are there any that are of particular interest to you? Do you know something about a particular technology (for example, CD-ROM, solar devices, laser medical equipment). One other good place to brainstorm is the Gizmag clippings webpage. What topics for the technical-report project can you think of relating to technology?
  8. Think about fields of study and knowledge, particularly those involving science and technology. What report topics do fields like alternative agriculture, alternative energy, artificial intelligence, health care, or virtual reality suggest?
  9. What about topics involving space and space travel? Colonizing or terraforming the Moon or Mars? Growing food in spaceships?
  10. What about the scary future of planet Earth? Global warming? Increased storms and fire? Sea level rise? Food shortages?
  11. What are your hobbies, your interests outside of work and school? What topics for the technical-report project do these suggest?
  12. Think about what you are curious about, what you wish you knew more about? Any topics for the technical-report project there?
  13. Grab some magazines or find online ones—take a look at the science, technology, health, business sections. What topics for the technical-report project suggest themselves there?
  14. Take a look at the topic list; see anything there that grabs you? Anything there that sounds like a good possibility for the technical-report project?
  15. Think about local business, nonprofit groups, or government agencies? What sorts of technical information might they need? Any topics for the technical report suggest themselves?
  16. Think about people you know—what they do, what their needs or problems are, what they are interested in. Any topics for the technical-report project suggest themselves?
  17. Now after all this wide-ranging brainstorming, maybe you can decide on one or two topic ideas for your report project. List it or them here:
  18. If your topic is too huge to write about, use the questionnaire in topic narrowing to get it under control. (This is optional.)

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